It appears very unlikely that the girl’s recorded account of the event was accurate in many respects. Obviously, Finicum was not standing with his hands above his head when he was shot. And obviously all the left side windows were not blown out. The long back side window was clearly intact, based on many passes of the helicopter that showed varying reflections off the glass. The back passenger door window did appear to be gone, though it could have been rolled down I suppose. It was hard to tell about the driver’s window. But the windshield also appeared intact. The front passenger window appeared to go out very early in the confrontation, possibly for or from one of the grenades. IF they all stuck their hands out the windows to show they were unarmed, that was never evident in the video.

As for the agent that Finicum almost hit, that was CLEARLY not Finicum’s intent. That man was not there a second before – he jumped out in front of the LE vehicle when he saw Finicum trying to go around him. Stop the video and go a click at a time, and it’s clear that he was not just standing to the left of the LE vehicle in the path of Finicum’s vehicle, so I don’t accept that that particular item can be pinned on Finicum. He was already commited, both in speed and direction, to going around the LE vehicle, and the agent suddenly jumped out in his path. If Finicum was alive, I’d have a very strong argument with any charge related to trying to strike that agent, any any first year attorney fresh out of law school could have shown that video and had that charge thrown out.

Going for the gun? Probably. Even the FBI says it was IN his pocket, so was he going for it to use it, or to bring it out and raise it up over his head (stupid move, but I suppose possible in the excitement of the moment), or was he doing a suicide by cop? We’ll never know for sure. But by bringing his hands down two different times to fumble around with his jacket, pockets, or whatever, was probably cause enough with these guys known to be armed (and likely armed right there at the moment), and Finicum already on record saying he’d die before he’d go to jail. Thus, I have little to no problem with the apparent move to take him down.

As for “120” shots hitting their vehicle, it’s pretty hard to know from the helicopter video, but I’m not buying the audio recording. That she may have actually been the girl in the vehicle I could believe possibly, but it’s also likely that her memory and perceptions were highly clouded based on her age, lack of experience in such situations, and the extreme adrenaline. She may have even ducked down or turned her head and never saw Finicum lower his hands, I suppose, so she assumed they were up when he was shot (clearly not the case). And that he even had his hands up after he was shot – yes, the video seems to show that he extended them back up over his head, probably on command, because LE didn’t know whether he’d go for whatever was in his pocket again, having no way to know how badly he was injured.

I’d still like to see photos of the vehicle just to confirm the perceptions from imprecise video from the air, but I’m not inclined to believe that vehicle looked like Bonnie and Clyde’s vehicle, despite what the audio account sounded like.

So – my tentative final take on it: idiots. They screwed up the view people have of “conservatives” around the country, they took on a cause that wasn’t their business the moment both the sheriff and the Hammond family (including the father and son going to prison) asked them to leave. And they didn’t even have the “cause” correct – they used it to fit their own long-standing agenda. Thus, any claim Cliven Bundy had from last year, and particularly any claim the Hammonds have with regard to their ranch and the father and son’s freedom, will be lost to the dust bins of history, because the Brothers Bundy and their merry militia band completely overshadowed what may be some very legitimate issues.

Beyond sad. LaVoy Finicum seems to have clearly engineered his own death. Congratulations, LaVoy. You left your family without an apparently beloved member, and for what?

GS
"Ye hear of wars in far countries, and you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries, but ye know not the hearts of men in your own land."